CVE-2025-38407
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-07-25

Last updated on: 2025-11-19

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: cpu_ops_sbi: Use static array for boot_data Since commit 6b9f29b81b15 ("riscv: Enable pcpu page first chunk allocator"), if NUMA is enabled, the page percpu allocator may be used on very sparse configurations, or when requested on boot with percpu_alloc=page. In that case, percpu data gets put in the vmalloc area. However, sbi_hsm_hart_start() needs the physical address of a sbi_hart_boot_data, and simply assumes that __pa() would work. This causes the just started hart to immediately access an invalid address and hang. Fortunately, struct sbi_hart_boot_data is not too large, so we can simply allocate an array for boot_data statically, putting it in the kernel image. This fixes NUMA=y SMP boot on Sophgo SG2042. To reproduce on QEMU: Set CONFIG_NUMA=y and CONFIG_DEBUG_VIRTUAL=y, then run with: qemu-system-riscv64 -M virt -smp 2 -nographic \ -kernel arch/riscv/boot/Image \ -append "percpu_alloc=page" Kernel output: [ 0.000000] Booting Linux on hartid 0 [ 0.000000] Linux version 6.16.0-rc1 (dram@sakuya) (riscv64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc (GCC) 14.2.1 20250322, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.44) #11 SMP Tue Jun 24 14:56:22 CST 2025 ... [ 0.000000] percpu: 28 4K pages/cpu s85784 r8192 d20712 ... [ 0.083192] smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ... [ 0.086722] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 0.086849] virt_to_phys used for non-linear address: (____ptrval____) (0xff2000000001d080) [ 0.088001] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1 at arch/riscv/mm/physaddr.c:14 __virt_to_phys+0xae/0xe8 [ 0.088376] Modules linked in: [ 0.088656] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1 #11 NONE [ 0.088833] Hardware name: riscv-virtio,qemu (DT) [ 0.088948] epc : __virt_to_phys+0xae/0xe8 [ 0.089001] ra : __virt_to_phys+0xae/0xe8 [ 0.089037] epc : ffffffff80021eaa ra : ffffffff80021eaa sp : ff2000000004bbc0 [ 0.089057] gp : ffffffff817f49c0 tp : ff60000001d60000 t0 : 5f6f745f74726976 [ 0.089076] t1 : 0000000000000076 t2 : 705f6f745f747269 s0 : ff2000000004bbe0 [ 0.089095] s1 : ff2000000001d080 a0 : 0000000000000000 a1 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.089113] a2 : 0000000000000000 a3 : 0000000000000000 a4 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.089131] a5 : 0000000000000000 a6 : 0000000000000000 a7 : 0000000000000000 [ 0.089155] s2 : ffffffff8130dc00 s3 : 0000000000000001 s4 : 0000000000000001 [ 0.089174] s5 : ffffffff8185eff8 s6 : ff2000007f1eb000 s7 : ffffffff8002a2ec [ 0.089193] s8 : 0000000000000001 s9 : 0000000000000001 s10: 0000000000000000 [ 0.089211] s11: 0000000000000000 t3 : ffffffff8180a9f7 t4 : ffffffff8180a9f7 [ 0.089960] t5 : ffffffff8180a9f8 t6 : ff2000000004b9d8 [ 0.089984] status: 0000000200000120 badaddr: ffffffff80021eaa cause: 0000000000000003 [ 0.090101] [<ffffffff80021eaa>] __virt_to_phys+0xae/0xe8 [ 0.090228] [<ffffffff8001d796>] sbi_cpu_start+0x6e/0xe8 [ 0.090247] [<ffffffff8001a5da>] __cpu_up+0x1e/0x8c [ 0.090260] [<ffffffff8002a32e>] bringup_cpu+0x42/0x258 [ 0.090277] [<ffffffff8002914c>] cpuhp_invoke_callback+0xe0/0x40c [ 0.090292] [<ffffffff800294e0>] __cpuhp_invoke_callback_range+0x68/0xfc [ 0.090320] [<ffffffff8002a96a>] _cpu_up+0x11a/0x244 [ 0.090334] [<ffffffff8002aae6>] cpu_up+0x52/0x90 [ 0.090384] [<ffffffff80c09350>] bringup_nonboot_cpus+0x78/0x118 [ 0.090411] [<ffffffff80c11060>] smp_init+0x34/0xb8 [ 0.090425] [<ffffffff80c01220>] kernel_init_freeable+0x148/0x2e4 [ 0.090442] [<ffffffff80b83802>] kernel_init+0x1e/0x14c [ 0.090455] [<ffffffff800124ca>] ret_from_fork_kernel+0xe/0xf0 [ 0.090471] [<ffffffff80b8d9c2>] ret_from_fork_kernel_asm+0x16/0x18 [ 0.090560] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 1.179875] CPU1: failed to come online [ 1.190324] smp: Brought up 1 node, 1 CPU
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Meta Information
Published
2025-07-25
Last Modified
2025-11-19
Generated
2026-05-09
AI Q&A
2025-07-25
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-08
NVD
CVE-2025-38407
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 6 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel 6.16
linux linux_kernel From 5.15.160 (inc) to 5.16 (inc)
linux linux_kernel From 5.15.160 (inc) to 5.16 (inc)
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AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability occurs in the Linux kernel on RISC-V architectures when NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) is enabled and the percpu allocator uses pages. The function sbi_hsm_hart_start() expects a physical address for sbi_hart_boot_data but incorrectly assumes that the __pa() macro works for data placed in the vmalloc area, leading to the hart accessing an invalid address and hanging during boot. The fix involves allocating the boot_data array statically in the kernel image to ensure a valid physical address is used.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

This vulnerability can cause the system to hang during the boot process on RISC-V systems with NUMA enabled and percpu_alloc=page set. Specifically, secondary CPUs (harts) may fail to start properly, resulting in reduced CPU availability or a system that does not fully boot, impacting system stability and availability.


How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?

This vulnerability can be detected by observing kernel boot logs for specific error messages related to percpu allocation and invalid physical address access on RISC-V systems with NUMA enabled. Look for kernel warnings such as 'virt_to_phys used for non-linear address' and tracebacks involving __virt_to_phys and sbi_cpu_start. To detect this, you can check the kernel log using the command: dmesg | grep -i 'virt_to_phys' or dmesg | grep -i 'sbi_cpu_start'. Additionally, verifying kernel configuration options CONFIG_NUMA=y and CONFIG_DEBUG_VIRTUAL=y can help identify vulnerable setups.


What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?

Immediate mitigation involves updating the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for this issue, which involves using a static array for boot_data to avoid invalid physical address access. If updating is not immediately possible, disabling NUMA (CONFIG_NUMA) or avoiding the use of percpu_alloc=page on boot may prevent the issue from occurring. Monitoring kernel boot logs for the described errors can also help in early detection until a patch is applied.


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